“After a 2 year wait, The Monochromatic Mayhem, the Deafening Unity, of the Penn State Whiteout awaits us all once again!”
PENN STATE FOOTBALL CLASSICS
Joe Paterno, James Franklin, Ki-Jana Carter, Todd Blackledge, Kerry Collins, Saquan Barkley, Trace McSorley, Tamba Hali, and so many more household Nittany Lions.
BLACK SHOES, BASIC BLUES, NO NAMES, ALL GAME
September 18 2021: The Whiteout’s Long Awaited Return with a New Twist
Created by Bragging Rights Sports (WE ARE! PENN STATE!)
You may be asking yourselves, why are you going over this game when you’ve already covered it on the Pride of PSU Football? That’s simple, we needed the journalist perspective and not the over the top reaction of Penn State’s 1st ever Whiteout win vs an SEC team. Anyways this game certainly had plenty of hype coming into the game. Penn State began the 2021 season with the hot hand. The year prior they were expected by experts to win the BIG10 East in a COVID riddled season. All they did was suffer the worst losing streak in the James Franklin Era. They started 2020 0-5 which included heartbreaking losses against Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio State. Plus playing in an empty Beaver Stadium thanks to sporting events not being open thanks to corona-chan (fancy name for COVID19) left many of the players lost and searching for answers. Even if their freshman class of 2021 wasn’t as good as expected there was a silver lining. Many of their starters who opted out or were seniors during the 2020 season would end up coming back for one more push at the BIG10 Title. Then 2021 season began with a serious bang for the Nittany Lions. 2 straight wins against #12 Wisconsin at Camp Randall and defending MAC Champion Ball State in the home opener spread optimism all around State College.
In Week 3 they would get an unexpected home match to prove their superiority. Only once before in the Whiteout Era had Penn State hosted an SEC team. That came in 2011 when they lost to eventual National Champion Alabama. This time they wouldn’t get the Crimson Tide, they would get their younger brother. (Not LSU, or Texas A&M) That happened to be the Auburn Tigers. Like PSU, War Eagle was coming off a bad 2020 season, and came out of the blocks on fire. Against Alabama State and Akron, the Tigers outscored their opponents 122-10. In both games their vaunted RB duo of Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter each had 100 yards rushing. Just like the Nittany Lions, Auburn was going into this epic matchup with swagger and optimism. Except in this case they got very cocky. If you are new to College Football, any team that plays in the SEC believes that no other conference matters to them. They think it’s their conference AND THEN EVERYONE ELSE! War Eagle is probably the most arrogant of the SEC squads in terms of size of fanbase plus the amount of smack they talk about other teams on Social Media. Listen to some of the comments they said: “Penn State’s defense sucks.” “Bo Nix is a Heisman Candidate.” No one can stop Bigsby.” And the worst comment of them all was “The Iron Bowl and Death Valley in Baton Rouge have much better atmospheres than Penn State.” Let me be clear about this, Auburn fans you do not know what you are in for, yes you guys may have filled the entire upper deck in orange in the North Endzone, but I have news for you. “WELCOME TO THE GREATEST ATMOSPHERE IN ALL OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL! THE WHITEOUT IS HERE!!!” After another raucous Whiteout intro with advanced bottle rockets and flares getting shot off around Beaver Stadium as well as Adam Taliaferro reliving the moment where he jogged out of the tunnel for the first time after a serious knee injury in 2000, this highly anticipated showdown would be a battle right from the get go.
Penn State began the night with the ball and quickly found out that they would have to earn their yards against a defense that hadn’t been tested all year. Although once Auburn stopped Sean Clifford on a 4th and 1 QB sneak, the fans in orange were already starting to take over the Whiteout. However the gutsy call by Franklin would not be the worst case scenario as the Nittany Lion defense forced the Tigers to kick a field goal after a nice stand. After both teams traded punts PSU would get their Tight Ends involved. First Brenton Strange, then Theo Johnson. Johnson’s 37 yard catch down to the 12 set up a touchdown pass in which Clifford used his scrambling abilities to pinpoint Jahan Dotson in the right side of the South Endzone. (Auburn fans think that play should have been illegal touching, QUIT THE EXCUSES!) With the crowd back in the game, Bo Nix could do nothing but thanks to the running of Bigsby, the Tigers retook the lead. Then Dotson decided to show off his all around skills. First came an acrobatic one handed catch on a 22 yard pass from Clifford, then 2 plays he threw an option pass to the 3rd TE Tyler Warren. After that it was a slow grind for yards and it eventually paid off as Clifford found Strange for an easy touchdown. The halftime score was only 14-10 Penn State but it could have been a lot worse. Why? On one of Penn State’s early drives, they were forced to punt on a 3rd Down because the officials messed up the spot of the ball. This was a big deal because this game was being officiated by the SEC, so we all know who they sort of want to win. (I bet they have Bo Jackson Auburn jerseys on underneath their uniforms)
All that aside, the 2nd Half was expected to be another thriller like most Whiteout games of the past. Auburn began the half at their own 30 thanks to an offsides on the kickoff by PSU. (It’s clear that the refs want the Tigers to win) “Hudson rolled out, he wanted to throw the ball, (Thunderstruck playing) DROPS IT! PENN STATE’S GOT IT!” WOW! I bet they saw what Jahan Dotson did in the 1st Half and said you know what, we need to do the same thing but better. Here’s the problem, the slipped out of Kobe Hudson’s hands into the arms of Derrick Tangelo. Whiteout UNLEASHED! Now that the air just got sucked out of the Auburn sideline, the Nittany Lions would quickly take advantage of the short field. “The Designated Diver” Tyler Warren jumped over the top for a touchdown giving PSU a 21-10 lead for plays later. However if War Eagle was going down, they would go down swinging. You know how they responded to that fumble, a 15 play 75 yard drive that was literally all about Tank Bigsby running past the vaunted Penn State Front 7. The Tank’s 2nd TD of the game brought the score to 21-17. Even better news for Auburn was that REFBALL again got the best of the Nittany Lions. Franklin called a fake punt with DT PJ Mustipher as the upback. At first he cleared the line to gain, however the SEC officials went to the replay center in New York and there was clear evidence that Mustipher was short. Oh god not this again. Just when the viewers watching the game on TV expected War Eagle to regain the lead, the Penn State defense made sure that Bo Nix would beat them instead of Bigsby. That strategy worked as the Tigers settled for a field goal by Anders Carlson.
(Ironman’s Can you get it playing) Penn State then faced their biggest drive of the game, and boy would they execute it to perfection. Like most of their drives in this game, it featured a grindage for yards plus a long pass to the Tight End. They even got a rare facemask call which gave them 1st and Goal. It took a couple plays, but Noah Cain was able to run it in from 3 yards out to take an 8 point lead. However despite another key stop on defense, Clifford and the offense couldn’t put the game out of reach yet. Come on Franklin, you can’t just rely on the defense to save you when REFBALL is a factor, indeed it was thanks to a 15 yard penalty on a late hit on Bigsby. How can this game get more bizarre? (Great Balls of Fire playing) “Nix gets it out in traffic, catch made by Jackson, BALL POPS OUT! It’s picked up by Joey Porter Jr! Footrace, they’ll never catch him. It signaled a touchdown!” Welp looks like this game could be out of reach. I say this with a catch, you bet yourselves there is one. The play didn’t count because those zebras said that the receiver was down by contact. Wouldn’t you know it, Auburn was able to take advantage of it and get inside the Penn State redzone. For 3 straight plays, the Nittany Lion defense held up. On 4th Down, Nix would go for the jump ball. “Nix, fade, no chance. 2 men tangled up, no flag.” Don’t worry War Eagle, there’s still 3 minutes left and PSU is pinned in their own end. Luckily for the Whiteout, Noah Cain was THIIIIS close to being tackled for a safety. Then on the next play, BEEP! And there’s the makeup call. Remember that incident where Penn State punted on 3rd Down yep that’s a makeup call for it. Auburn fans complaining about the officials when those zebras were the main reason why they were even in this game to begin with. This is why SEC teams not named Alabama have massive victim complexes. Luckily for the Tigers, Penn State wasn’t able to run out the clock. Thus Bo Nix and company get one more shot. In a span of 30 seconds Auburn had the ball at the PSU 26. There’s one problem, they have time for only 1 play at the end zone. IT’S A HAIL MARY! “Nix, pressure, launches over the middle, (DRAMATIC MUSIC!) it is incomplete and Penn State holds on!” I thought that pass was intercepted by Brisker when I recapped this game on the Pride of PSU series but luckily I did get the Chris Fowler call of this play. Anyways unleash the insufferability of NittanyNation! PSU STUDENT BODY ACTIVATED! O-O-O-O-O! O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O! WE! ARE! PENN! STATE! O-O-O-O-O! O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O! WE! ARE! PENN! STATE! PAUSE.
That might have been one of the most bizarre Whiteouts you’ll ever see. To me this was the game that the 2021 season of Penn State Football will be remembered for. Not the collapse, and the Franklin to USC rumors luckily. The reason I’m saying that is because this game got the players and coaches reconnected with the fans at Beaver Stadium after an entire season with no fans in attendance. This was the game in which Penn State declared itself as a team that could fight for 60 minutes with some of the best teams in the country. This is the kind of game that the longer tenured players on this upcoming team will use on the freshman as a way to win over the fans. This game also meant a lot to Franklin. With this game, it proved that he could beat an SEC team in a big time showdown, plus the guts to do whatever it takes to win. I hope this year’s Whiteout on Halloween Weekend will be just as crazy as this one. (Hopefully they add some LED Lights so that there can be pregame and in-game light shows) I’m so glad I got to experience this game in person. It just shows what Penn State Football is all about. The Monochromatic Mayhem, the Deafening Unity, and everything being organized is something that most college stadiums would dream to have on gameday. Before we wrap up I’d like to rerun a clip from the Pride of PSU Episode based on this game. “Can we have a moment of silence for all of the people that said Auburn would not only destroy Penn State but also those who thought that Bo Nix is a dark horse Heisman candidate………………… WE ARE! PENN STATE! WE ARE!! PENN STATE!! WE ARE! PENN STATE!!! THANK YOU! YOUR WELCOME!!!” (Enjoy Blue and White Weekend NittanyNation!)
Bragging Rights Sports 